MARYVILLE, Tenn. — A Blount County man is accused of stabbing a teenager in Maryville early Saturday morning.
Police said the 19-year-old victim, Riley Stroud, was paralyzed immediately following the attack.
Warren Tra'Shaun Moates, 20, is charged with aggravated assault in connection to events police said happened early Saturday morning in the 1000 block of Silver Creek Lane.
The Maryville Police Department said in a report that officers were called to Silver Creek Lane around 1:46 a.m. on Saturday. An officer found the victim lying in the front yard of a residence, with a knife stuck in his lower back.
Multiple people at the scene were attempting to help the victim, police said.
"I then took over medical aid, and held a cloth that was already wrapped around the knife when I got there," Brandon Carter, an officer, wrote in the report. "I then kept the male from moving as much as possible due to the injury he had received."
After an ambulance picked up the victim, officers asked witnesses at the scene what happened. Carter wrote the witnesses wouldn't cooperate with law enforcement, but said the suspect left in a red Honda.
The Honda was found in the 2000 block of Swarthmore Lane in Maryville.
Carter wrote a woman at the home identified herself as Moates' mother to a Blount County Sheriff's Office deputy who was also on the scene, and told the deputy her son was "jumped." Carter wrote Moates agreed to talk to police about what happened on Silver Creek Lane.
At first, Moates told police he was jumped by multiple people on Silver Creek Lane because of a fight over a female.
Moates told police the fight started inside the home, and went from upstairs to downstairs, and continued into the front yard. After this, Moates said he went into his car, grabbed a knife, stabbed the victim in the back, and left.
Carter wrote that he did notice scratches, bruises and an abrasion on Moates' body. Throughout the investigation, Moates' story of what happened changed, Carter wrote.
"He at one point stated that a male had a gun to his head, and he was afraid he was going to be killed," Carter wrote. "He later mentioned the gun was in play, but he knew the male would not do anything with it, so he was not scared."
Carter wrote Moates also told yet another version of the story, and claimed a male pointed a gun at him after the stabbing, In this version, Moates decided to leave the scene after the gun was pointed at him.
"Warren (Moates) also advised multiple times at his residence that he did stab (the victim)," Carter wrote. "He also advised he had been drinking while at the original scene."
Moates was incarcerated at the Blount County Jail and is due in court on May 29.
Kelly Ziehl, a family friend of Stroud's, said he's regained some feeling in his legs, but not all of it.
"Riley is improving as far as feeling in his legs, it goes to around his knees," Ziehl said. "But there's still no feeling in his feet. He's making small improvements, but with this type of injury, all the doctors have said it's case-by-case as far as how well he'll recover and what, if any, mobility he will get back."
Ziehl said Stroud's family is trying to figure out how they'll pay for medical bills, rehabilitation or modifications for their home following Stroud's injuries. She said Stroud was stabbed in his lower back and his lung.
The family has set up a GoFundMe campaign for donations and a Facebook page to provide updates on Stroud's condition.
"It's very overwhelming," she said.